Gavin Kremond

[MasterSilke]

Gavin Kremond

AI Generated

"Bad luck either destroys you, or it makes you the man you really are."

==============================

Appearance

==============================

Race:	Human
Ethnicity:	Sembian
Sex:	Male
Height:	5'11" (~180 cm)
Weight:	~165 lbs (75 kg)

Gavin stands at an average height with a modest build that speaks more of endurance than brute strength. His tawny skin bears the sun-kissed hue of someone exposed to the elements, dotted with faint scars — remnants, perhaps, of misfortunes endured. The most notable is a vertical scar that rests just above his upper lip.

His feathered brown hair extends barely beyond his jawline and is slightly unkempt, just enough to give an air of wildness. Despite the apparent lack of intensive grooming, his hair is kept clean, though it often falls over his face, partially obscuring his sharp, angular features.

His hazel eyes, a blend of earthy green and warm amber, flicker with an attentive intensity upon the object of their gaze, often accompanied with a hint of curiosity or even mischief.

When he speaks, his tone is of a soothing baritone and bears a Sembian cadence, giving recognition to the country along the north-western coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars.

He often wears a black tabard with a crimson cloak draped over his shoulders. While adequately maintained, his gear shows signs of excessive use as one would expect from a man frequently out amidst the elements. A small emblem hangs from his neck depicting black antlers upon a red field.

==============================

Background

==============================

Hometown:	Selgaunt, Sembia
Birth Year:	1336 DR
Deities:	Beshaba
Profession:	Itinerant Priest of Beshaba
Languages:	Common, Chondathan, Turmic

Born the third and youngest son of House Kremond, a minor yet ambitious merchant-noble family in the bustling city of Selgaunt, Gavin's fate was sealed before he could shape it himself. For reasons only disclosed to some, he was dedicated to the Temple of Beshaba at the tender age of eight. Through trials both deliberate and fated, he reached his full ordination at eighteen, a marked devotee of the Maid of Misfortune’s capricious whims.

With the upper echelons of Lady Doom's clergy only bestowed upon women, Gavin was immediately directed out of the temple and took to the roads as an itinerant priest, spreading the doctrine of his goddess wherever misfortune’s shadow loomed. From the mercantile streets of Sembia to the vigilant strongholds of Cormyr, he carried Beshaba’s ill omens, instructing the practical-minded in means of appeasement whilst reveling in the missteps and misfortunes of those who failed to pay her proper due.

In time, his path led him westward, beyond the Dragonmere and into the tumultuous lands of the Sword Coast where fortune and ruin often walked hand in hand. Ever the bearer of ill tidings or prudential prescription, Gavin continues to travel the Coast, whispering warnings to the wary and invoking Beshaba’s displeasure upon the defiant, confident that wherever his feet tread, so goes the will of Lady Doom.

[MasterSilke]

==============================

Religious Views

==============================

As an ordained priest, Gavin naturally bears feelings and opinions on nearly every god within Faerun's pantheon. Below is a small sample of some of the more significant deities, either due to his own personal exposure or more impassioned views.

Deity	Thoughts
Beshaba	As one of her priests, Gavin holds Lady Doom in utmost esteem and reverence. Misfortune is a simple reality of the Realms, one outside of any mortal's true control, and it is Beshaba who embodies it. He will admit and profess the pragmatic and even necessary need to appease her so as to avoid the worst of calamity and even proclaim it as a potential gift when bestowed, as the trials of hardship allow the chance to grow in strength, resilience, character, and wisdom. But Gavin's opinions and devotion toward Beshaba are not merely a matter of argument or cool syllogism. Due to the circumstances and events surrounding his dedication to the temple, Gavin is staunchly convinced that he was chosen by the Maid of Misrule herself, desired by her and ensured through Fate decreed. In addition, his priestly role has come with the occasional experience of receiving visions of the Lady and even communing with her directly, feeling his soul laid bare beneath her gaze. In these encounters, he beholds her and finds her to be awe-inspiring, beautiful, enthralling, and utterly terrifying - only serving to drive his devotion all the more.
Bane	Gavin's feelings towards the recently dead god are decidedly mixed. On one hand, he readily acknowledges the power of fear as a motivator, and the efficacy of the Black Hand's rule through dread was not something that could be denied. After all, Lady Doom and much of her clergy practice this very tactic to remind complacent and distracted souls of the harsh realities within the Realms. Yet in Gavin's mind, the Black Lord's focus is too narrow. Fear alone will only accomplish so much. Even Beshaba's clergy recognize this fact. Her Wormlucks focus solely on spreading the Lady's influence through fear from curse and hex, yet there is a reason why not all clergy are ordained as Wormlucks. Sometimes honey serves as a better lure than vinegar. But even more significantly, Gavin sees in the Black Hand the embodiment of the foolish obsession with control. The lack of control can naturally instill feelings of anxiety and frustration, easily leading to the cultivated belief that everything can be ordered and ruled. To Gavin, this is a delusion that many mortals are apt to cling to just as tightly as the Black Hand himself. An utter fantasy that Fate can be mastered and one's own life can be bent wholly to one's will. Yet the god's fall, to Gavin, was proof that such an obsession eventually shatters.
Cyric	Gavin holds a measured, reluctant respect for the Dark Prince simply due to the sheer power he undeniably wields. In Gavin's eyes, dismissing Cyric outright would be folly. After all, the Mad God clawed his way to divinity, seized portfolios, and made himself a presence that could not be ignored. Power demands acknowledgement, no matter how it is obtained. Yet Gavin cannot bring himself to see the new god's faith as anything more than immature bluster. To him, the Prince of Lies is still an upstart, barely a handful of years into godhood compared to the ancient weight of Beshaba. It is an infantile faith yet to prove its endurance. Gavin, however, is much more critical of the god's followers than the god himself, seeing them as mostly juvenile who mistake noise and cruelty for true purpose. Their zeal, in his opinion, is less devotion and more akin to a child's tantrum, seeking validation through destruction. Though perhaps these feelings spur from a tinge of jealousy where the Dark Prince attained power that would have been more fitting for Lady Doom. Regardless, Gavin holds Cyric as little more than a curiosity who is to be respected from a distance but never trusted nor revered.
Hoar	Gavin harbors a significant respect for the God of Revenge. Where others may deem Hoar as a mere bitter, vengeful shade among Faerun's pantheon, Gavin sees clarity; a god who does not shy away from the simple truth that retribution is sacred. The innate understanding of tit for tat, an eye for an eye, ingrained within the mortal condition. And the creative flair encouraged for comeuppance delivered is a trait that the priest admires. With the god bearing the title Doombringer, Gavin has fittingly collaborated with Hoarites many times to curse and bestow doom upon the souls they hunted. Doom is the Lady's will, and at times the Doombringer serves as her hand. For Gavin, the Lord of Three Thunders is a necessary deity who reminds the world that no man, no matter how mighty, can hide from the doom he has earned - similar to the Maid of Misrule who makes clear that none are entirely spared her gaze.
Ilmater	As a pragmatic realist, Gavin does not look favorably upon the Triad whom he believes are among the most prominent advocates of lofty impractical idealism. Yet of the three, The Broken God receives the greatest of his criticism. It is not that the priest disdains the whole of Ilmater's ethos. Rather, he sees that the god begins by expressing a sound and vital truth, but then warps it into utter folly. Hardship is inevitable within a mortal's life, and The One Who Endures, as befitting his title, presents the importance of enduring and persevering through such trials. But then comes the grand folly in Gavin's eyes, the notion that his followers ought to take on the suffering of others. The purpose of enduring and persevering through suffering is to strengthen oneself - to better oneself. By taking another's suffering for yourself, you are robbing that soul of the opportunity for growth, improvement, and maturation. It is ultimately a disservice, in Gavin's mind, veiled by naive altruism and hardly a kindness as oft presented.
Kelemvor	Gavin regards the God of the Dead with modest curiosity, primarily due to his recent ascension. Though perhaps it would be more fitting to say that his curiosity pertains more towards the new rites and customs being developed and spread by the god's clergy. Still, of the Doomguide himself, Gavin bears a measure of appreciation for his simplicity. Death itself is not a curse nor a reward, it is merely a reality, inevitable and impartial. Gavin respects this view promulgated by The Great Guide for its pragmatic realism, a sort of honesty that the priest finds to be a rarity among many of the gods who often dress and uphold their purviews with pompous grandeur that amounts to little more than shallow idealism.
Sharess	Gavin regards the Dancing Lady with a modest appreciation. While he does not see hedonism alone as fulfilling — to him, a life given only to indulgence seems shallow, fragile, and easily broken — he nonetheless believes that pleasure is an important and necessary experience to make existence worth enduring. Hardship tempers a soul, but without moments of delight, laughter, intimacy, and revelry, life risks becoming nothing more than a grim march to the grave. As such, Gavin sees Sharess as a deity that ought to be granted measured honor. While the fleeting ecstasies she advocates can become an easy distraction for some, they still serve as a reprieve that gives one the strength to face the next tribulation. Without pleasure, resilience loses meaning. Mortals only have a brief time on the Material in the grand scheme, and one might as well make the best of it as they can.
Tymora	Embodying the antithesis of his patron, it is no surprise that Gavin holds Lady Luck in utter disdain, whom he also calls the Homely Twin. He will not deny the reality of Luck in the Realms, but the priest of Beshaba believes it to be utterly foolish to place any measure of reliance upon good fortune and receiving Tymora's whimsical smile. Unlike misfortune which allows one to grow in strength, resilience, character, and wisdom through enduring well, Gavin believes that good fortune lacks such opportunities if not ultimately stifles them. When individuals receive a great boon through no personal effort or merit of their own, no substantial growth proceeds. And experiencing such blessings abundantly inclines one towards reliance and a coddled weakness with a great aversion towards hardship and the opportunity to better oneself from it. Her blessings, especially when bestowed frequently, are ultimately a detriment. After all, good luck never made a man wise.
Umberlee	With much of his life in lands along the Sea of Fallen Stars and now the Sword Coast, Umberlee's influence and presence has rarely been entirely absent. To Gavin, the Bitch Queen is a goddess to be respected not out of love but from sheer pragmatism. The sea can be as fickle and merciless as fortune itself, and those who deny that truth may easily find themselves as corpses dashed upon the rocks or swallowed by the deep. While Gavin does not possess any substantial affection towards the Queen of the Depths, he believes she evokes a similar lesson as Lady Doom herself: that survival does not come from courage but rather from bowed humility before powers and storms greater than yourself.
Waukeen	Having been born and raised in the nation of Sembia, devotion to the Mistress of Coin was frequently witnessed in Gavin's upbringing. Yet despite her prevalence within the Land of Merchants, Gavin did not grow to bear an affinity toward the goddess. He, in fact, regards her with a measure of disdain. Coin and wealth can certainly be a useful tool, but that is all it is - a tool. And it is a fleeting one at that, easily lost through foolish squandering, poor business deals, or even a stroke of ill fate. Yet it manages to stir obsession and dependance within the hearts of many mortals, a sight seen all too often within his home nation. Due to the shallowness of her portfolio as well as her apparent absence since the Time of Troubles, Gavin sees devotion and reverence towards Waukeen as a waste.